Amusement device



sept. 7 1926. 1,599,183

J. A. sEE'DE y AMUSEMENT- DEVICE AFiled yarchzl, 1920 c 28 ze 27'ubyw'mjcy Patente-d Sept. 7, 1926.

JOHN A. snnnn, or Nrsnauna, NEW YoRK.

lan'Usrlirnri" DEVICE.

Y appuea'tion med March 31, 1.9201. serial naawe'z.

The present invention comprises a Ynew game or amusement device. Itisthe object of my invention to provide a recreation device Which willpermit two or more players to enter into direct contest with eachotherAin a game wherein the' difficulties vvill deend partly'l on the yplayerand Vpartly on lis opponent, thereby re uiring a moderate degree ofphysical eor and yencouraging the aquisitionof' skill', quickness andVjudgment.

In a device embodying my invention, a ball, or othermovable object, isserved by a player against an obstacle from Whichv it rebounds andpiassesbyv an indirect path to the playing space of'an opposingplayer,who Will endeavor to return the ball While in motion to the' playingspace of the serving player. In its preferred embodiment my new gamedevice is constituted by a frame provided With deflectors extending atan angletothe general direction of play and also individual projectorsfor each player., ln' some cases my new game maybe arranged byconstituting the floor of a room as the plane surface upon which thegame is played. Vln'this case, the projector for the ball may beprovid-edwitli a handle for greater ease or comfort of players or mayresemble' a croquet mallet. The novel features of my invention Will bepointed' oult Withy greater particularity in the appended claims.

e In the accompanying drawing, Figfl is a plan View of' a .deviceembodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a' vertical section; Fig. 3 is a planvieu7 oif a` modification; Fig. i is a vertical longitudinal section ofa; springoperated propelling device suitable for use with my inventionthe mechanism` being in art broken away; Fig. 5 showsa horizontalsection of this device taken on line 5-5 of V Fig. er; Fig. 6'v and Fig.7 illustrate propelling devices operated by the muscular force of theplayer. l j The device shown in Fig. 1 comprises 'an oblong rectangularframeY comprising a base `or floor "1,7 vertical side Walls" 2, andanend Wall y3. This frame rests on suitable supports or standards 4. Avertical partition 5 extends longitudinally from one end of theI frameto apoint short of the opposite end of the fra-ane, thereby providingrplayA ing spaces 6,17, en its opposite sdea op posing' players,l'connected by a passage l8,. The Width ofthis Vpassage preferably shouldbee ual to A1A; to 1/4P the total Width of floor Parel-sr orifice. y

1f.- n either side ofthis passage are located f abutments or deflectors9, 10 extending at a suitable angle so that a ball or otherpro )e'cltilestriking one of these abutments may becaused to rebound, and if"properlyaimed will be defiected through the passage 8. The end" Wall 3 anddeiiectors 95, 1%0 preferably consist of hard resilient material,such'as hard Wood, hard rubber, bakelite, or the like. The ball may ormay not pass through the passage 8, Vdepend-ing on the skill of theplayer, the geometricv relation ofk the defiectors and partition vva-lldetermining the degree of skill required. For example', the ball maystrike 'the end Wall 3, thence rebound to the side W'all' of' tlieopposite playing space. The" ball strike the end Wall 3 and returndirectly to the player'serv'- ing theball. The ball may strike the`deflectorv 91,' rebound to the partition' 5', and return to the courtvof the serre-r; It may even strike the deflector, 9, rebound' t; thedeflector l0, and again-rebound into the playing space 6. Thedi'llieulty of getting the ball into the opposite playing space may beincreased by constituting or covering" the side Walls 2 Wholly or inpart with sui-table yielding material suchas'cl-oth, tol penalize theplayerA striking these sidewalls instead Y of the' deflectors' 9, 10,the end Wall 2 and partition 5. The angle WhichA the` deflectors 9, l0make to the' end Wall 3 may be varied in any s Aitable Way. For,eirampld diiferent triangular inserts may be used to' make the task ofshooting' a ball through the opening 8 more or less diflicult. Ingeneral,- it

will be easier to cause the ball to rebound4 into theoppsite Vplay-ing`4space? by makin-g the angle tijd abouty i5 degrees. y' Greater orlesser-,angles than 45 degrees vWill increase the 'diiiiculty activeplayers ang-le of'v about" 66)y degrees is to be preferred.'

balll 1-1 consisting olf'suitable resilient 'finaterifal may be.projected lor served, 'say from court A constitutinga suitable part ofthe :playing space 6' byy a simple cue, as shownf in'Fig.; 6, by" amallet, as shownin Fig. 7 or by a mechanical projector, as shown inFigs'.

rected it vvillfrrebound either from 'the de- :liector 9"@'1 the endWall 3, preferably the 41 and 5. V. If properly diL projectile will notonly be successfully received but will bel successfully shot back intothe vplaying space of the opponent. Should the receiving player fail toreturn the ball to the playing space of the propelling player the ballmay spend its energy by striking the yielding back stop and drop intothe pocket 16 at the serving end of the frame. In some cases, bysuccessive ricocheting the ball may come to a standstill withoutreaching this pocket, even though it is not returned, but this isvavoided as far as possible in design. The ball may now be served again,this time from court B against the deflector 9 or the end wall 3,preferably the former, thus distributing the service and making thecontest more varied. l/Vhen a set is completed theY initiative may passto the opposing player. The score may be counted in various ways, andrules may be substituted by agreement of the players.

The spring-actuated projector shown in Fig. 4 comprises a. housing 17having a hinged cover or lid 18 and containing a reciprocating plunger19. The plunger 19 is movable longitudinally and when moved against therea-r wall 20 will compress a spring' 21. The spring has not beenillustrated in Fig. 4 for the sake of clearness. The cover 18 is movablyconnected on each side of the housing by pins 22, to levers 23, 23. Asshown in Fig. 4, the lever 23 is provided with a slot 24 in which slidespin 25, the lever 23 having the same construction. This pin 25 isfastened to the side wall of the housing. The levers 23, 23 in turn areconnected by levers 26, 26 on each side of the device to a collar 27sliding on the plunger 19. Between this collar 27 and the spring 21 is asecond collar 28 rigidly connected to the plunger 19. The vertical axisof a section of the plunger l is preferably longer than the horizontalaxis, and being otherwise shaped to prevent the plunger from lifting theball or driving it against the table so as to prevent it going over theside walls.

TvVhen a player desires to set the projector he grasps the base of theprojector with one hand and grasping the handle 29 afiixed to the coverwith the other hand, raises the lid. This causes the plunger to bepulled backward., compressing the spring 21, the alignment of theplunger being maintained by a rod 30 sliding within the hollow plunger19. When the collar 28 passes under the trigger lever 31 the plunger isprevented from returning. The projector is now set. A push button 32working against a spring 33 is provided to enable the player to releasethe plunger 19 while the projector is stationary so as to aim it toserve or return the ball. A horn 34 on the front end of the projector isprovided to prevent the player from moving the projector beyond the foulstop 14, thus preventing a player in his eagerness to strike the ballbeyond the allotted space.

As shown inf, Fig. 3, the device may be modified within the spirit of myinvention by placing the opposing players at opposite ends of a frame inthe center of which is located a deflector containing angular passagesthrough which the vball may be sent by an indirect path by one player tothe opposing player who will endeavor to return the same with his ownprojector. The arrangement shown in Fig. 3 comprises a centrally locateddeiiector 35 cooperating with laterally located dellectors 36, 37, andseparated therefrom by passageways 38, 39.

The ball must be shot in such a way against the delector 35 that it willby successive rebounds reach the .court of the opposing player.

rlhe game is ofrdeceptive simplicity. A slight difference in the angleof incidence and point of impingement of the ball together with asecondary rotation of the ball. about a vertical axis as might beimparted by a player of superior skill', will completely change thecourse of the ball. In one case it will reach the opponents courtsuccessfully, but the neXt shot although apparently made in the same wayand causingthe ball to apparently hit the target at the same spot willcause the ball to return to the player. As the ball always remainssubstantially in the same plane even though moving about withconsiderable speed, the game is suited for playing in a room withoutdamaging fragile articles in the room.

lV hat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is

1. A game comprising a frame, one or more partitions whereby said frameis separated into playing spaces which are connected by a passage soplaced that an obj ect cannot be readily projected therethrough from theend of one playing space to the corresponding end of another playingspace without deflection, means capable of releasing energy while heldin a fixed position whereby a movable object projected by one playerfrom a playing space may be propelled and pass by deflection into theplaying space of an opposing player and means for deflectying saidobject through said passage by an indirect path into the playing spaceof an Opposing player,- Where. the; ernment my receive said object andcause thesainevto. return into the playing spaceY of the first player. I

` '2. A gaine comprising a platform having ak plane surface, an oblongframe enclosing the same, a partitionin large part dividing said frameto provide playing spaces on said platform for opposing players, leavinga restricted passage connecting said spaces, and extending at an angleto said playing spaces, and trigger actuated, energy storing means foreach of said playing spaces whereby an object may be served by a playerupon said plane surface against a portion of said frame and therebyprojected in an indirect path in a horizontal plane through said passageinto the playing space of an opposing player, said means being alsoadapted to return said object when received by said opposing player. j

3. A game comprising a frame having playing spaces for opposing players,a longitudinal partition extending past the centre of said frame andleaving constricted passage through which' an object may pass from onespace to the other by an indirect-path, a defiector adjacent saidpassage so as to enable an object projected against said deflector in ahorizontal plane by one player to be deflected into the playing spaceofv an opposing player, and individual mechanical propelling means whichare capable of releasing energy while held in a fixed position, saidmeans being freely movable in a playing space and being adaptedto drivesaid object against said delector at any desired angle.

4. A game comprising the combination .of a frame, upright partitionthereon extending past the centre of said frame and separating saidframe into playing spaces connected by a passage out of direct linebetween said players, a ball of resilient material, spring-actuatedpropelling means for each playing space movable in a horizontal planefor projecting said ball and deiiectors positioned with respect to saidplaying spaces to enable a ball striking a deiiector from one playingspace to rebound into another playing space and also affording otherangular deflections whereby said ball will be returned to the firstnamed playing space.

5. A game comprising a frame having a substantially plane horizontalsurface, a lo'ngitudinal partition extending past the centre of saidframe and separating said frame into playing spaces located side by sidebut leaving at one extremity a constricted opening between said spaces',energy-storing rpropelling devices for said playing spaces for pro- Yjecting a movable object and means for deflecting said object through anindirect path from one playing space to another.

6. A game comprising a platform, a longitudinal partition extending partwaybetween Vthe extremities of'. said platform and' separating playing,spaces for opposing players, a projectile, a vertical abutmentpositionedopposite said playing spaces andf located'at an angle to said partitionwhereby vsaid projectile shot bygone player vfrom 'a playing space onone side of said partition may bel deiected by an indirect path into aplaying space on the opposite side of said partition to be received byan opposing player, but affording also numerous angular deiiectionscausing said projectile to return to the iirst player and a bar dividingeach of said playing spaces without vinterfering with the motion of saidprojectile.

7. A game device comprising means providing a plane surface, a verticalframe enclosing saidsurface, a vertical partition dividing said surfacelongitudinally except for an opening, vertical deflectors opposite saidplaying spaces positioned at an angle to said partition, a freelymovable projector for each of said playing spaces whereby an object-,maybe caused to iinpinge by a player upon said .deflector and therebydirected to an opposing player, if properly aimed, and a barrier forpreventing said Vprojector from being moved outside of a v sto-p.

9. A game device comprising the combination of means providing a framehaving individual playing spaces located side by side, a verticalpartition separating said spaces except for an opening at one end ofsaid frame, trigger-actuated propelling means for each player adapted todrive an object lfrom his own playing spaces to his opponents playingspace, a deflector adjacent the opening between said playing spacesspaced to permit an object striking said deiiector from one playingspace toy rebound into the neighboring playing space through the openinginsaid partition, and aback stop of yielding material for said playingspaces. f

l0. A game comprising a playing surface, a longitudinal partitionextending part'way from one extremity of said surface to a point spacedaway fromthe opposite extremity whereby playing spaces are dened con#nected by a passage, vertical deflectors positioned at an angle to saidpartition adjanent said passage, a projector for each of saidrplayingspaces adapted to be moved on said playing surface, a foul stopcomprising a bar spaced away from said' playing surface so as to permitthe passage of a projectile but intercepting said projectors, a yieldingbackstop for said playing spaces, and a pocket for receiving aprojectile 10 striking said backstop.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 30th day of March1920.

JOHN A. SEEDE.

